I’m glad you found it useful. And your blog template has a ton of room on the right where you could do pretty much anything you want.

I too have been looking into monetizing my blog. I have a Google AdSense account but I’m reluctant to put it on here as I don’t know anything about those websites I’d be referring people to. For the moment, I decided on throwing on an Amazon widget I’m sure you see where I reference some books I know I can stand behind.

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I’m not sure what opinion you’re asking there. As far as SEO I’d think the longer post would have a better chance only because the longer your copy, the more chance you’ll type out a keyword phrase someone might type into Google search.

I’ve only been blogging for about 9 months but from what I can tell, it doesn’t matter if you write small and often articles or large and less often articles when it comes to the number of subscribers you get or a buzz about you.

It seems more about the value you’re providing your readers and how focused your topic is (I feel mine is a bit too general, personally – but then again there are many kinds of entrepreneurs out there).

I’m like you, my posts are usually a little longer and I try to use h2 tags for my sub headings (good for seo).

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Yeah blogs are a little different than normal static websites – they play by different rules. The reason is a blogger comes to a blog for a different reason than consumers come to a typical website which sells something.

In a blog, the content is the most important thing as bloggers are in search of information and commenting. They aren’t looking for “Web Hosting.” Therefore, the content on blogs go on the left since that’s where their eyes are naturally drawn to.

So if a blogger wants to promote a product or service, their best chance for visibility is in their content (i.e. write about it or insert an ad inside their content).

You may notice, however, that my blog’s content is on the right and not the left (which conflicts with what I said). My rule of thumb is if a blog is only a supplemental part of your overall website, it’s best to not confuse your visitor by shifting everything around. I prefer to keep my website’s functionality as uniform as possible.

What do you think about that?

However, for static websites that sell a product or service, things are a little different. These website visitors come to a site because they are in search of a product or service that your company has to offer. Therefore, show them what all they can find by giving them easy navigation in your left sidebar.

I’m curious, when you go to a website to buy something (not blogs), where are your eyes naturally drawn to?

And I couldn’t agree with you more, typing over a black background is a no no. If you really like black, make sure the content area’s background is white (or close to it).

What an interesting post.

When visiting new blogs, the first thing I look for is the content. After I’ve read the current post, I look for the “About Me” page, previous posts, and the layout/attractiveness of the site. Once I know the site, all I “see” is the content.

I don’t like sites with a black background or tiny fonts. They are too hard to read, so I don’t.

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